World IN BRIEF : ISRAEL : Work Starts on New Settlement

Israeli Housing Minister Ariel Sharon said work has begun on what he hopes will become the largest Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, Israeli television reported. Sharon told a meeting of Israeli contractors that the settlement, named Avneh Hafetz, will be near the Palestinian town of Tulkarm in the West Bank. At present, the largest of the Jewish communities in the occupied territories has about 15,000 residents. About 100,000 Jews live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip among 1.7 million Palestinians.